| The Strange Land of Chaladon
Since this micro-civilization is located in northern California, the weather is temperate with four distinct seasons. The plants and animals are similar to what one would expect to find in such a place, however, many odd creatures and strange plants, very different from those in our world, also inhabit the land. These are described in separate sections. People who live in this civilization call it Chaladon (the stress is on "chal") and they call themselves Chaladonians (with stress on the "don"). At first glance they appear quite different from us, but in many ways, people from our civilization would feel very comfortable living with them. There is much to admire about the life-style of Chaladonians. Most notable is the way they have organized their relationship with the environment. Their system of transportation seems to be the key because everything seems to be organized with this in mind. A sort of "spider web" of trains conveniently connects everything. Factories, schools, shopping areas, government administrative centers, and villages are located at train intersections so that automobiles are not necessary for everyday travel. Agricultural land, wild forests, and meadows fill in the spaces between these webs of transportation with the result that living space is not spoiled by economic and commercial activity. Life is pleasant in Chaladon. Historically, their world consisted of four kingdoms that were constantly at war with each other: Bloogastan, Celadonia, Garbonia, and Riptornika. Several hundred years ago, the Celadonian Queen, Abagail the Funny, convinced the other three kings to unite under one government and war between the four races became just a distant memory. They organized a united federal government and built the capitol in a separate territory called the District of Chaladon. The Capitol City is called Abagail in honor of the "mother of the nation." The four different human species live together in amazing harmony, which is all the more remarkable because the four groups are naturally contentious. Each considers itself to be superior to the other three and a surprising number of people even believe the others "smell bad." In our civilization humankind evolved into one species, Homo sapiens, and then developed into variations we call race with minor physical differences. Not so in Chaladon. There, four distinctly different species evolved; so different from one another they cannot interbreed. The physical and personality differences of the four races are quite distinctive and easily recognized:
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